By Jeremy Hill Asus recently revealed its new MeMO Pad tablet that’s going to be released in “emerging markets” this month, and the United States in April. This 7-inch tablet will be priced at $150, and it specifications go right along with its budget price. The MeMO Pad isn’t meant to lure anyone away from the Nexus 7 (which Asus also manufacturers) but those looking to save a little money may find this device enticing. The MeMO Pad has a 7-inch 1024×600 display, 1GB of RAM, a 1GHz processor, 8GB-16GB of expandable storage and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.  This tablet also differs from...

Remember that lawsuit from Hasbro complaining about Asus naming its new Android tablet the “Transformer Prime,” out of concern that consumers might confuse it with Hasbro’s popular transforming robot toy line? It’s still going to trial, but a judge has expressed sufficient skepticism over Hasbro’s claims to deny the company’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have stopped Asus from continuing to sell its tablets pending the outcome of the trial. The judge didn’t find sufficient resemblance between the Android tablet and Hasbro’s toys to warrant worries over consumer confusion, and noted Asus’s case is strengthened by the...

Perhaps this isn’t directly about e-books, except insofar as a tablet can be used as an e-reader, but I was so amused to learn today that Hasbro is suing Asus over the name of its latest hybrid tablet/netbook device that I just had to share it. I’m not surprised. I can honestly say I had half-expected it since I heard Asus was calling its original such device the Transformer, and I completely expected it when I heard the newest version was the “Transformer Prime”. I mean, really, what is any child of the eighties going to think when he...

With the Amazon Fire suddenly burning at the front of bargain-conscious consumers’ minds, other cheap tablet news has been coming out of the woodwork. Let’s look at some of it. Not sure how I missed noticing this. In a desperate effort to stem the tide of its stock slumping yesterday, Barnes & Noble knocked $25 off the price of its Nook Color tablet in an e-mail promotion immediately after the Amazon presentation, along with offering free shipping. It seems to be at full price on the website, however. But I’d expect the price to dip for everyone when the...

Wednesday, Apple Insider reported on an investor report from J.P. Morgan, which indicated that tablet manufacturers competing with Apple's iPad have reduced their future build plans for their devices after experiencing lackluster sales. J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moscowitz called the poor sales an "early dose of reality". The tablets in question include Asustek’s Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola’s XOOM, RIM’s PlayBook, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Overall planned production numbers have declined by 10%, from 81 million units to 73 million units. It's not surprising that these competitors’...

The ASUS “Campus Life” blog reports that the Eee Note EA800 is about to hit shelves in North America at a list price of under $200 (which probably means “exactly $199.99”). The device is an 8” touchscreen 4GB e-ink “digital notepad” that comes with a stylus (or, as they call it, a “2,540dpi resolution touch pen that has 256 levels of pressure”) for precise, pressure-sensitive note-taking, annotating e-books, and so on. It also includes a 2MP camera, micro USB, micro SD, 802.11 b/g WiFi, headphone jack, and speakers. Battery life is given as 13.5 hours with a 10-day standby....

Even though iPads and other tablets have largely usurped the limelight, netbooks are not going gently into that good night. And with good reason. The netbook is still a perfectly functional form factor for when you need a miniature alternative to a laptop, and could be great for e-reading if you’re willing to overlook the awkwardness of the mini-laptop form factor (or simply turn it on its side to use it like a tablet with a large sideways keyboard hanging off of it). Here are a few interesting netbook-related stories that have surfaced recently. Augen, More Often ...

Yesterday we mentioned that Google had stated that the $150 Augen tablet and $100 smartbook included a number of unauthorized closed-source applications (Market, Gmail, etc.). Now Engadget reports that Augen has issued a press release stating the apps were installed on the devices for “testing purposes” during development, and were accidentally left in the production version of the operating system. Augen says that it and Google have come to an understanding that, though it can’t do anything about the products that have already shipped, it will remove the controversial apps from future production runs of its...

Our sister blog Gadgetell reports on a Digitimes story that Asus is planning to release an 8” 64-greyscale e-paper reader at “under $599”. (E-Reader Info and Engadget also have coverage.) When I saw this story, I had to glance at my new wristwatch, which helpfully provides a display for the year as well as month and day, to make sure that I hadn’t accidentally slipped one or two years back in time. (The watch synchronizes by radio with the atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado, so I can know for certain that it’s still 2010—the atoms say so!)...

Following up to my post about Augen devices last night, I just called the Kmart in Branson and spoke to them, and what they had in stock was the e-book reader, and one remaining unit of an Augen netbook different from the one Engadget found. Engadget’s find was an Android “smartbook” with a 400 MHz processor and 128 megabytes of RAM, but Branson has one clearanced unit of what appears to be this model listed for $75 (currently out of stock) on Geeks.com, or $67.99 + $9.99 shipping at NewEgg (apparently in stock), a Windows CE “smartbook” with...

MediaBistro’s eBookNewser and GalleyCat have been putting together a directory of good Twitter accounts to follow for e-book news. Gratifyingly, our very own Paul Biba tops their list. Thanks for the mention, MediaBistro! Engadget reports that Amazon and ASUS are teaming up to pre-install the Kindle Reader software on some of the netbooks and laptops ASUS sells through Amazon. Engadget speculates that the pre-installation might extend to ASUS’s forthcoming Eee Pad tablet, but expects to hear more about that at an upcoming industry event. Also found on Engadget, Amazon’s Kindle 2.5 software is now rolling...

In observance of the announced-for-summer Kindle Reader for Android, CNet’s Josh Lowensohn takes a look at the existing Kindle Reader versions for other platforms and compares how well they come off. My own review only compared the PC, iPhone, and iPad versions; it is interesting to learn more about the Blackberry and Macintosh versions. Gizmodo has spotted the Kindle in a slightly unusual place—being used by the evil lizard-aliens on the V revival. Amusingly, the Kindle in question is very blatantly displaying an “empty battery” screen. Gizmodo makes much of the fact that a Kindle, not...